


Real

by DoggyTwoShoes



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, I didn’t Have a Concrete Way to Work her In, Xavin? Who’s That?, this is mainly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22009519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoggyTwoShoes/pseuds/DoggyTwoShoes
Summary: Nico casts a spell to get the others back, not realizing the consequences of breaking the dream sequence without the others willingly leaving.
Relationships: Chase Stein/Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 75





	Real

**Author's Note:**

> I’m writing this when I have just watched Season 3 of Runaways. Seeing the Dream Sequence got me thinking of an idea of what could’ve happened and this Plot was born. I meant for this to be more angsty, but it turned into a total piece of Deanoru fluff and I’m totally fine with that.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes or canon inconsistencies, I wrote this at 1:00 AM, and the name ‘Karolina’ was murder on my autocorrect.

“No, no, they can’t be gone,” Nico murmured, more to herself in pure denial. 

“They are Nico, but, we can rescue them, we just have to get together, plan, and go save them...” Alex starts to say, trying to comfort her before she shrugs him off and stands up, pulling out her staff.

“Nico...calm down,” Alex says hesitantly, “We can’t just—we can’t just run off without a plan...”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Nico growls lowly, raising her staff and watching as the circle starts to glow, “Bring Them Here!” Nico didn’t notice Leslie’s widened eyes and attempt to stop her, only focused as one, two, three, four bodies materialized into existence in the Hostel, Nico rushing over and helping one up, Karolina, while Alex rushed over to help Chase and Molly helping Gert, Old Lace getting up on her own.

“Karrie, Karrie, are you okay?” Nico asks frantically, seeing a glazed over look in Karolina’s eyes as the blonde grabs onto her arms like a lifeline.

“Nic...Nico...What—What happened? What happened to our wedding?” Karolina asks, sounding confused as Nico looks it, not understanding the wedding portion.

“Karolina, What...” Nico starts before being cut off as Leslie enters, looking around.

“It’s like I was afraid of, Jonah and the others, they held her in a dream sequence, where they lived their greatest dreams.” She explains, a grave tone to her voice.

“Where’s Gert?” A voice suddenly roars, Chase, struggling against both Molly and Alex holding him back, “I have to Save Her!” 

“I’m right here dummy.” Gert responds, rolling her eyes as Chase turns and looks at her, relief clear in his glazed over eyes.

“You...You’re okay...” He says with clear relief, rushing over and looking her up and down, “Did I...Did I save you?”

“What?” Gert questions, about to answer negatively but seeing the almost desperate look on his face and rolling her eyes with a sigh, “Yes Chase, You saved me.” With that he hugged her desperately, the fog and glaze clearing from his eyes before he looks around confused.

“What...What’s going on?” Chase asks, breaking the embrace as he stumbles back and looks around, “How am I back here?”

“You kids better sit down, this could take a while.” Leslie says, sighing as she stumbles into the set aside dining area, the other kids following after her, Karolina still looking distraught as she asks about her wedding and why they weren’t at it.

—

“So you’re telling me I have to marry Karolina?” Nico questions incredulously, “I have to _complete this dream_?”

“Yes, preferably soon, it’s the only thing that could wake her up,” Leslie explains solemnly, looking around at the five kids and one dinosaur at the table, Karolina over in her own world, muttering about guests and presents.

“Couldn’t Nico just go over and kiss her?” Molly questions, before turning at the incredulous glances from four kids, one pregnant adult and one dinosaur and sighing. “True Love’s Kiss? Works every time? Breaks any curse?”

“This isn’t a Disney Movie Molly,” Chase says with a sigh, “This is real life, not some fantasy, happy ending PG movie bullcrap!”

“We all saw what it did to Chase,” Alex explains, looking around, “How single minded he was until Gert confirmed that he saved her? Then how he became clear minded? I think Mrs. Dean’s right Nico, the only way to break her out of this is for her to marry you.” 

“Great, married at Seventeen, to a girl who’s not even aware of it, everyone’s dream,” Nico says, rolling her eyes as she marches off to her room, Karolina frowning and following after in Nico’s steps. Alex goes to follow too before Leslie raises a hand and stops him.

“I think she’ll need some time Alex, leave her be.”

—

Nico had stormed up to her room and shut the door, going to her bed and sitting down, clearly mad about something. She heard it open and turned, ready to tell whoever it was to go away before she saw Karolina, well, not Karolina but the dream-state Karolina.

“Hi Nico, are you okay?” Karolina questions, shutting the door and taking a seat beside her on the bed and taking Nico’s hand in hers, “Never mind I know you aren’t. Is it about the wedding? Because I swear, I don’t know what happened but we’re gonna get out of here and get married ASAP, for real this time.” She then shot Nico a grin, as genuine as could be in her dream addled state as Nico sighed and faked one of her own.

“Of course Karrie, we can get married whenever everyone’s ready,” Nico says, before sighing again, “Little confession, I interrupted the wedding, but, let me finish,” Nico says, seeing Karolina ready to interrupt, “I knew that you would rather have one with just the people that matter, and, I wanted to get you a ring first.” 

Nico wrings her hands together while explaining this, thinking it better to explain something to Karolina, and knew she made the right call when the blonde sent her a bright smile and kissed her briefly.

“Oh Nico, how sweet!” She exclaims, embracing her goth girlfriend with clear happiness, “You’re right, everything has to be perfect for us, well, more perfect than it already was...” Karolina says sheepishly. 

“What do you mean Karrie? What was perfect about that already?” Nico asks confused, as Karolina blushes slightly.

“It was us, that’s all I need for it to be perfect, just you there at the alter with me.” She says with a small grin, “And it can be here, on the beach, at a church, anywhere, and as long as it’s the two of us, it’ll be perfect, like a dream.” Karolina says, her face lighting up with no help from her powers as she leans in and kisses a similarly smiling Nico.

“Yes, like a dream.”

—

It turns out that a wedding, no matter how necessary and unplanned, still never failed to brighten spirits, as the four kids planning and one parent walked around with more smiles than usual, even Old Lace got caught up in wedding fever, even Nico found herself smiling and falling a bit more into a hole of happiness, maybe this wasn’t the worst thing.

“Hey Nico, what kind of flowers do you want?” Alex asks, sliding up next to the meditating witch who fixes him with a glare.

“Why are you asking me? You know that flowers would be more Karolina’s thing instead of mine,” Nico says, rolling her eyes and trying to go back to meditating.

“That’s just it though, Karolina’s a dead end when it comes to all things wedding, because of the dream thing,” Alex says, handing over a phone to Nico who takes it with a huff.

“Right.” She says, clearly in a fouler mood as she scrolls through all the options, not paying most a second glance before she stops on one with a long look.

“These...these could work.” Nico says with a nod, Alex looking over her shoulder and wincing.

“Those are super rare Nico, getting a lot would be expensive,” He says, before recoiling as the young woman shoots him another glare, “Maybe if we did half those and half something else?”

“Let me see,” Nico says with a sigh, going back to her furious scrolling before settling on another set and sighing, “These too,” She says, as Alex rolls his eyes and takes the phone back.

“I’m sure we can work something out, does your staff have a flower spell we can work with? Doubt we’d need it more than we do right now.”

“Maybe, I’ll look into that, when we get closer,” Nico says, leaning back into her chair as Alex sighs and starts to go before being stopped.

“Wait Alex, how do we know this is a good thing?” She questions, looking a bit conflicted, “What if we break Karolina out of this, and we’re married, and she doesn’t want to be?”

Whatever answer she was expecting, Nico was not expecting laughter from Alex who cracked up for a few seconds before looking at Nico with a grin.

“You’re kidding right?” He asks, humor still clear in his tone, before being glared at again and sighing, “You’re not kidding. Listen Nico, I may not know much about relationships, but Karolina loves you. I’m sure she’d rather get married when you’re both older, but she’s going to wake up and be ecstatic that you two get to spend the rest of your lives together.”

“Are you sure?” Nico asks, sounding conflicted as Alex nods with a soft grin.

“Positive. Now I’m pretty sure Molly and Mrs. Dean are working on ordering wedding dresses for you two in the kitchen, so unless you want to be surprised, I’d get in there,” Alex says with a playful grin as Nico stands up and rolls her eyes with a fond smile. 

“Asshole.” Nico says teasingly with a small smirk as she stands up and walks into their cooking area, seeing Molly and Leslie behind a computer screen while looking at Wedding Dresses.

“Wow, these are some kind of expensive.” Nico says with a roll to her eyes, taking a seat next to the two women, “And unless you want to draw attention to this by purchasing two expensive Wedding Dresses, we’re gonna need a new plan.”

“We have one,” Molly says sweetly, “I doubt you’re gonna need wedding spells more than right now, and even if you do, there are more words you can use.”

“Isn’t it traditionally the mother of the bride who pays for this stuff?” Nico asks innocently, grinning with little malice as Leslie laughs.

“Nothing about this is traditional Nico, you, an actual witch with a magic staff, is marrying my daughter, a half human, half alien, to wake her up from a dream like obsession with marrying you. We can bend the rules a little bit,” She says with a laugh as Nico rolls her eyes.

“Speaking of that, I need to go ring shopping,” She says, before shaking her head as Molly goes to pull up a new tab, “Not online, not with my staff, I just want this one thing to be normal, there hasn’t been a lot of that recently,” She says with a slight bitter laugh, before frowning at the hesitant look on both Leslie’s and Molly’s faces, “Please, I just need this one thing,” Nico begs, looking pleadingly at Leslie who sighs and stands up.

“Alright, I’ll take you ring shopping, but we need to go in disguise, Jonah’s twisted family is still out there,” She says, grabbing a bag as she gestures to Nico, “Come on, let’s get you a disguise.”

—

A disguise, it turned out, was a blonde wig and losing the goth makeup, while Leslie changed hers and made herself look fifteen years younger, as well as putting on sunglasses and a hoodie, Nico doing the same. As they set out to leave, Nico was stopped by a frowning Karolina on the steps.

“Nico, Mom, where are you guys going?” She asks, as Nico smiles at her and takes Karolina’s hands in hers.

“Bonding with my soon to be Mother-In-Law,” Nico says with a light laugh, looking at Karolina, “Need to make sure we get along and that she knows I have no ill-intentions with her daughter.”

“Alright, have fun,” Karolina says, looking sad that Nico was leaving. Nico, of course, hated seeing a sad Karolina, so she leaned in and quickly pecked her lips and hugged her.

“I love you Karolina, and I promise I’ll be back soon,” Nico says, grinning softly as her girlfriend, fiancée, whatever she was, as she hesitantly did the same. “Go help the others with wedding planning, put in your two-cents, I shouldn’t be the only one with any input.”

“I told you Nico, I don’t care,” Karolina says, smiling and laughing slightly, “I just care that it’s you with me. Forever.”

“Forever,” Nico echos dropping her hands from Karolina’s and following Leslie who moves with deceptive ableness for someone so pregnant.

—

“You are so head-over-heels for her, it’s adorable,” Leslie says with a teasing grin, Nico rolling her eyes as they walk down the streets of LA, thankfully going unnoticed by most passing people.

“I’ve been told.” Nico says with a small smile, “And I know this marriage isn’t ideal, but I’m glad that if it’s anyone I’m trapped with, it’s Karolina.”

“I’m glad it’s you with her too Nico,” Leslie says with a sigh, “I may not see eye to eye with you kids on everything, but I know all of you, and you especially, will look out for Karolina as best you can.”

“Always. With everything I have,” Nico assures, walking at a brisk pace, avoiding streets that had members of PRIDE living on them or ones with the Church of Gibborim.

“Good,” Leslie says, slowing down as they come upon a ring shop, before lowering her voice, “Remember the story, you’re my 22 year old daughter and we’re buying a ring for your similarly aged boyfriend,” She whispers to her as Nico nods, “The heteronormativity, as Gert would say, helps sell the story,” She adds quietly, Nico rolling her eyes but pushing past her into the store with a nod.

“Welcome to Dave’s Custom Rings,” A voice says, greeting the two women, as an old kindly man steps out from behind the counter, shaking both Nico’s and Leslie’s hands, as he gestures to the store. “What are you in for, we have Engagement, Wedding, Promise, High School, any type of ring you can imagine.”

“An engagement ring, I’m Patricia, this is my daughter Mandy. She’s proposing to her boyfriend of three years now, right honey?” Leslie says smoothly with a false voice, Nico nodding and putting on a pleasant smile as the man laughs.

“Well I’m Dave, obviously, and I wish them both a lifetime of happiness.” He says kindly, guiding Nico and Leslie through the store, “Find the band that you think best fits what you’re looking for first.”

Nico and Leslie spend around fifteen minutes looking through different bases for a ring, despite quickness being of the essence, Nico needed this to be perfect for Karolina. Eventually, she settled on a thin and elegant silver one, the strands twisting like branches around it to complete the loop. Nico didn’t know what it was, but something screamed _Karolina_ to her when she saw it.

“This one, it’s perfect.” Nico says, nearly forgetting her fake voice but still salvaging it in the second half as Dave laughs and nods. 

“Excellent choice Mandy, now for the gemstone.” He pulls out a tray of different premade options with gemstones on the chosen band. “If you don’t like these, we can custom make it but it will take a couple hours.”

It was quickly decided by Nico that none of the premade rings were right for Karolina, so she looked over gemstones, finding nothing that seemed right to her for thirty minutes, and it was clear Leslie was getting impatient. 

“Hurry up!” She hisses, before regaining her composure and smiling falsely at Nico. “I mean honey, we have other plans today, important plans. _Important_ people are waiting on us dear.” 

“I know mis...Mom, but I need this to be perfect for He...Him,” Nico says, clearly less experienced at lying than Leslie as she rolls her eyes.

“If I may,” Dave interjects, walking over, “If no one stone seems right, I can possibly incorporate two stones into the one ring.”

“Yes, that sounds perfect,” Nico says eagerly, “Take this one,” She points to a bright, multi-colored gemstone, “And do you have anything else, dark as possible, black if it can be?” Nico asks, watching as Dave points out a dark blue, black to the naked eye, stone as Nico nods. “Yes, those two, half and half, light and dark,” She says, watching as Dave takes the tray away.

“This will take a few hours,” He warns as he writes down an order on a slip of paper, “And because of the complexity, you’ll have to pay now.” 

Leslie hands over a wad of cash to the aged ringmaker, as well as the number to a burner phone the group had bought, telling him to call immediately when it was done. Having some time, they settled at a cheap restaurant, low profile enough to not attract any attention.

“You really went all out on picking that ring,” Leslie says with a small smile as they sit, waiting for the call so they could make this a one time trip, “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were actually looking forward to this.”

“I need this to be perfect for her,” Nico says, “The choice of when was taken, if was taken, why was taken, but not the how. So I need that to be perfect for her,” She says, as Leslie leans in close.

“Honey, I know I’m not your Mom, or anyone actually comforting, but I know this is going to be perfect,” She says comfortingly as Nico chokes out a sob.

“How? How do you know Karolina’s not going to just wake up after this and regret it? Realize that I’m not worth it?” 

“She won’t. Your friends can back me up if you don’t believe me, but know that Karolina loves you more than anyone,” Leslie reassures, before being cutoff by the phone ringing, she answers and smiles at Nico, mouthing to her: “The ring is ready.”

They headed back to the ring shop, Nico waving off any concerns Dave had about it clashing, she knew it was perfect, perfect for Karolina, and that’s what mattered. With thanks from Leslie, they sped out, walking the distance to where they had hid the Rolls before speeding back to the Hostel with the ring.

As soon as they entered, Nico was practically tackled in a hug by Karolina with a squeal of “Nico!” The blonde very happy to see her girlfriend, almost immediately asking if she was okay and about the wedding, Nico reassuring her almost immediately that things were fine and that she was okay.

—

Later that night after everyone had gone to bed, Nico stood in her and Karolina’s shared room, watching as her girlfriend went to get ready in an adjacent room. 

“Flowers,” Nico commanded, holding up her staff and watching as bloomed flowers filled their shared living space, grinning slightly as she did it. “Candles.” She watched as lit candles filled the shelves. She then sheathed her staff and put it away, waiting a couple minutes before Karolina stepped back into their room, gasping at the scene.

“ _Nico_ ,” She breathed in awe, seeing the flowers and candles decorating the room, “What is...What is this?”

“I know we’re already getting married, and it’s wonderful, it’s perfect,” Nico says, quickly reassuring Karolina before she started, “But one thing hasn’t felt right,” Multiple things, but she couldn’t get into that.

“What do you mean Nico?” Karolina asks, her fogged over eyes looking nervous as Nico quickly reaches out to reassure her.

“Oh Karrie no, everything’s wonderful,” Nico exclaims quickly, trying to wipe away any doubt she had, “But most weddings need to start somewhere, with a proposal. And Karrie, nothing’s been normal or traditional about us or anything, but I want this one thing, so, Karolina Dean,” Nico started as she dropped to one knee, hearing a gasp of shock from the blonde and seeing tears well up in her clouded over eyes, pulling out the ring box and opening it, “Will you...will you marry me?” Despite the near certainty of an answer, Nico still felt nervous and tears brimming in her eyes. What if this woke her up and she realized that this shouldn’t be happening?

“Of course Nico! Of course I will!” Karolina rushed forward and pressed her lips to Nico’s, eagerly kissing her before backing up, both women wearing matching grins as they looked at each other with tear-filled eyes.

“Can I...Can I put this on you?” Nico asks, holding up the ring as Karolina nods, Nico slipping it on her finger as Karolina holds it up and inspects the gemstone, grinning and chuckling slightly.

“Is this supposed to be us?” She asks, pointing to the conflicting multi-colored gemstone and dark almost black one as Nico laughs slightly. 

“Yeah, light and dark, together, us,” Nico says with a teary chuckle, “Always, forever.”

“Yeah, it’s perfect Nico, just like you.” Karolina weakly laughs as she leans in and pecks Nico on the lips again, “The wedding should be like this too, light and dark, it’s perfect.”

“Yes, perfect.”

—

“So let’s get this down one more time,” Nico says, holding a round table of four other kids and one dinosaur, “Chase is the officiant, are you certified?”

“Yes. I did it online a couple days ago,” Chase says, as Nico nods.

“Good, Mrs. Dean’s giving Karolina away, Alex, you’re giving me away.”

“Correct, we’ve been over this a million times Nico, relax,” Alex tries to reassure, before Nico cuts him off.

“Shut up, this needs to be perfect for her,” Nico says, looking around, “Gert and Molly are bridesmaids, and Old Lace is a flower...dinosaur,” She says hesitantly, chuckling slightly as Old Lace roars in affirmation.

“Great, Nico, go with Gert and Molly for your makeup, Karolina’s Mom is doing hers, and we can get this wedding started,” Alex says, watching as Gert and Molly usher Nico off into another room to get ready while he looks at Chase.

“You think either of them are ready for this?” Alex questions as Chase laughs.

“Absolutely not. But they’ll make it work, they got through Nico killing Jonah, they’ll work through this too when she wakes up.”

—

“You guys, I can do my own makeup,” Nico says with a laugh as she shoves Gert and Molly away, “I’ve been doing it for years now.”

“It’s traditional for a bride to get her makeup done by her mother, and since yours is the worst, we’re doing it for you,” Molly says brightly as she again shoves Nico down into a seat.

“Don’t you have something to say about how traditions are some patriarchal tool or something Gert?” Nico asks pleadingly as Gert laughs and shakes her head.

“Says the girl who insisted on proposing, no way. And plus, I love weddings!” Gert says giddily to two incredulous stares from Nico and Molly, “What, just because I stand against the patriarchy doesn’t mean I don’t have my own opinions. Do you think I’m just some minion spouting viewpoints?” 

“Good point, but I could’ve used the help here.” Nico says with an eye roll, wincing as Molly applies some un-Nico like makeup to her, as well as her standard dark stuff, but she didn’t care, this was for Karolina. For her, she’d dress up like a Barbie doll and put on any kind of makeup.

“Now for the dress,” Gert says happily, clapping her hands together as she unzips a bag and reveals a bright multi-colored thing. “Nico, I think we mixed up yours and Karolina’s when you made them from the staff.”

“No, I did exactly what I meant too. I figured that it would mean more if we wore parts of each other instead of ourselves, show commitment or some crap,” Nico says with a roll of her eyes as she tries to sound uninterested.

“AW! How romantic!” Molly gushes, pulling the dress out, “In that case, let’s get you changed Chica, no sense in keeping your bride waiting any longer than necessary!”

—

Karolina was going through the same thing with her mother, having her makeup done, a mix of hers and Nico’s styles, before finally getting ready to change into her dress.

“Uh Mom, isn’t this supposed to be Nico’s?” Karolina questions with a frown, it was very black and overall Nico’s style, and Karolina couldn’t help but wonder if the overall emotion of the day had made her mess up her Staff work.

“No honey, it was Nico’s idea, she decided that instead of wearing dresses that represented yourself, you both should wear something that represents the other person,” Leslie responds, “But I’m sure if you don’t like it...”

“No Mom, it’s great,” Karolina says, cutting her off with a big smile on her face. What did she do to deserve Nico?

Leslie helped her daughter into her dress and veil, shielding her eyes as Karolina put on a couple necklaces and adjusted the ring Nico had given her on her finger.

“Oh _honey_ , you look _stunning_!” Leslie exclaims breathlessly, pulling Karolina into a delicate hug as she returned the gesture. “You know, I was going to make a speech out there, but I don’t think you’d want me to delay the wedding.”

Both mother and daughter chuckle as Karolina responds: “That’s for sure, I was worried it may never happen outside my dreams.”

“Oh honey, this is real,” Leslie says, gripping her daughter by the forearms, “And every parent wants to see this day for their child, but I was so afraid that I’d miss it for a long time, but I’m just so, _so_ happy that I can see you here, so happy, marrying the woman of your dreams.”

“Mom, I am so happy that you’re here for this, and I’m more happy that Nico puts up with me enough,” Karolina says with a chuckle, “But I know everything’s perfect, my good family’s here, my family’s here, and Nico’s here, that’s all that matters.” 

Both women share a hug again before being interrupted by Alex poking his head in with his eyes covered.

“Is everyone decent?” He calls out to laughter from Karolina.

“Yes dork,” Karolina says with a roll to her eyes, “What do you need?”

“Everyone’s ready, it’s time Karolina.” He says, smiling slightly as Karolina takes a shaky breath and smooths out her dress.

“Time to live out your dream, no pressure Karolina...” She mutters to herself, following outside back into the center room of the Hostel.

—

“Flowerpots!” Nico commands, holding up her staff above the ground as a multitude of pots filled with dirt form on the ground. “Seeds!” They fill with seeds for flowers. “Bloom!” Suddenly the Hostel is filled with flowers, half brightly colored with hues of pink, orange, red, and every color imaginable, matching Nico’s dress and Karolina’s lights, and the other pitch black, matching Karolina’s dress and Nico’s usual style.

“Wow, I didn’t realize you could make this many flowers,” Molly mutters, looking around in awe, “Or that well.”

“Neither did I,” Nico admits, twirling around very un-Nicoish as she looks around with a beaming smile, before seeing Gert and Old Lace, the dinosaur holding an empty basket. “Don’t think I forgot about you. Petals!” The basket suddenly fills with flower petals, causing peels of laughter from all three women.

“This looks like something out of a fantasy,” Chase says, entering and looking around, clearly impressed by the scene. “I didn’t expect you to go all out.”

“This is all for Karolina,” Nico says with a roll to her eyes, “It has to be perfect for her.”

“You know she’d be happy with anything Nico, dream state and all that,” Chase says with a small smirk on his face, “Do you think that this is maybe a little for you too?”

“Never, not with my dying breath,” Nico responds flatly, clearly unimpressed with his little speech, “All for Karolina.”

“Of course, just sayin,’” Chase says with a wink, laughing as he walks and grabs a book. “I know that Karolina technically has no religion since Gibborim turned out to be a load of crap, and you’re a Wiccan, but I’m just going with the standard Christian version, hope that’s okay.”

“Christianity is just the religion the Man uses to keep us down,” Gert says with a roll of her eyes as Chase laughs.

“That’s fine Chase,” Nico responds, rolling her eyes before laughing, “You could do Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Gibborim, Wiccan, Satanism, whatever, as long as it’s Karolina and I, everything is great.”

—

Finally preparations were done, a dinosaur and a fifteen year old saw cake and were getting anxious, and Karolina and Nico both couldn’t wait any longer. So Alex finally got everyone in position, Gert and Molly standing at the side of the makeshift alter, Old Lace spreading flower petals down the _aisle_ , which was just their staircase, and Chase up top, with the Staff of One having created a piano to play the music. Alex escorted Nico up the aisle first, smiling as Nico had a nervous grin on her face.

“You look radiant Nico,” Alex mutters, smiling slightly, “And I never thought I’d see the day when you dressed in so many colors again.”

“I’d say not to tell anyone, but who would you tell?” Nico questions, smiling and laughing slightly, “And who would believe you?”

“Have fun, it’s just one day...and then the rest of your life...” Alex says when they reach the top of the staircase, pressing a kiss to Nico’s cheek as she nodded and hugged him, before walking up to her side of the alter.

After she had settled, the piano music changed to the classic Wedding March, everyone’s heads turning to the bottom of the staircase. And the sight took Nico’s breath away, there was Karolina, her Karolina, as radiant as ever, wearing the pitch black dress which looked so great on her, with her light powers in full effect so she was literally glowing, her bright eyes even shining through the fog in them and a carefree smile on her face. Nico couldn’t imagine a sight more perfect...

Actually she could, Karolina’s beautiful eyes fully unclouded fully, knowing, so that she could speak up if she didn’t want this, like Nico knew she probably would when she woke up.

But she couldn’t focus on that, because her own eyes were wet with tears as she saw Leslie escort Karolina up the staircase, exchanging words which would forever be a mystery to her, but that didn’t matter, because Karolina was walking towards her, and it was all like a dream, so much so that Nico had to wonder if she was the one captured instead of Karolina and she hadn’t been rescued yet.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate this union between this woman, and this woman,” Chase starts, watching as Alex and Leslie take seats to watch this. “If anyone can see any reason why these two shouldn’t be joined in holy matrimony, please speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Nico could think of a ton of reasons, the fact that they were only 17, Karolina wasn’t even fully awake, she’d probably not want this if she was, their parents were evil and possessed and nothing good had ever lasted long since they ran away. But she wouldn’t say any of them, because she was selfish, and wanted this to last forever.

“Now, I know the priest usually makes some big speech, but we have a hungry dinosaur here, so I’ll cut to the chase,” Chase says with a small laugh, “I believe the two beloved have prepared vows.”

This was news to Nico, she didn’t even think Karolina was with it enough to write anything, she of course had, but she hadn’t expected anything from Karolina.

“Karrie,” Nico starts shakily, staring into her somewhat clouded over but still bright and beautiful eyes, “I’ve loved you for longer than I realized. I know I cut you out after Amy’s death, but I’ve always loved you so much. For better, for worse, it’s me and you, light and dark, forever. For real, always our version of normal and perfect. As long as we’re in this together, everything’s going to be fine, everything will be perfect. Because Karolina, you’re my soulmate, my one and only, and every time I look at you, I get reaffirmed in that belief.”

Nico was crying, everyone was crying, even the dinosaur, so it took Karolina a few seconds to compose herself.

“Nico, nothing about us is normal,” She starts with a small laugh, “Look at us, I’m a walking, talking, flying rainbow glow stick and you’re a goth witch who killed my father, none of this is normal! But that’s okay, because I’m here, you’re here, and that’s all that matters. We aren’t going to get along everyday, we aren’t going to always agree on everything, but I know we’re going to work out perfectly. Because I know at the end of the day, I’m in your corner, and you’re in mine. I know at the end of the day, I love you more than anything, and you love me more than anything.”

With that Nico and Karolina shared a wet, tear filled smile, wiping at each other’s eyes as they lightly laugh, before Gert hands Karolina a small object.

“Oh and Nico, I know people usually give special wedding rings at these, but your ring was so perfect, and I knew nothing could replace it, so I went out and got a matching one.” Karolina opened up the ring box and pulled out an identical ring to Nico’s gift to her, earning a happy gasp from said woman as Karolina slid it onto her finger, before Nico leaned in to capture Karolina’s lips with her own in a deep, emotional kiss.

“I don’t think we’ll need any ‘I Dos,’” Chase quips as the two women kiss each other, “So I now pronounce you wife and wife, you may...keep kissing the bride.”

When Nico and Karolina broke their embrace, they looked around and saw and heard all their fellow kids and Leslie clapping, even Old Lace was, before looking at each other as Nico saw Karolina’s eyes clear of the remaining fog but the love remain clear in them.

“Oh _Nico_ ,” Karolina whispers reverently, as she leans in and starts to kiss Nico again, she eagerly reciprocating.

—

Nico and Karolina had their first dance as a couple, twirling around and giggling while their friends clapped along to the music, before the reception really got started, their friends dancing along after Nico and Karolina fed each other cake, smiling the whole way. Nico thought her and Karolina could light up all of California with their smiles.

Eventually Nico found herself drinking punch while sitting on a banister, before sensing a presence slide up next to her.

“Hey Nico, can we talk?” Karolina asks hesitantly, Nico sighing and nodding. Here it came, the part where Karolina told her that this was too much for her.

“Of course,” Nico says as she turns to look at Karolina.

“Honest confession, I think I’ve been somewhat awake for a couple days,” She admits, to a gasp from Nico.

“What? Since when?” Did that mean Karolina actually wanted to marry her?

“Since you proposed,” She says sheepishly with a coloring to her cheeks totally unrelated to her powers, “It was just so perfect and so right, that part of my dream came true. I kept playing along, because I’m selfish, and I wanted you all to myself forever. And I knew I may not get the chance again,” Karolina says nervously, “Oh god, do you want a divorce because of this?”

Nico cuts off her worries, kissing Karolina for a few seconds and breaking with a nervous grin on her face.

“Karrie, I might’ve been mad about you not telling anyone, but I’ve spent the past few days so worried,” Nico admits, “So worried that when you woke up, you’d hate being married to me and want a divorce. So finding out you were awake already and wanted to marry me, it’s like a dream Karolina.” The two young newly weds shared another kiss, grinning madly as they looked at each other with love and admiration in each of their eyes.

“Is this real? I’m so afraid this is going to loop back and it’ll be another dream simulation,” Karolina admits before being kissed again by Nico, still grinning softly and adoringly at her.

“It’s real Karrie. Real and perfect.” Nico again kisses Karolina, earning a hum of contentment and enjoyment.

“Mhmm. Real and perfect.”


End file.
